Can literary output have a role to play in our political future? Whether or not literature has any impact on politics, I do think we owe it to ourselves and to our readers to reckon with socio-political circumstances in our writing. The question then becomes: how to do this without losing ambiguity or artful nuance …
I Will Stay Sober, But You Don’t Have To
There's a new reading series at The Beer Diviner Taproom in Troy, NY on the last Sunday of every month. I am the guest presenter for March. The format involves a reading, discussion, and then the readers leads the audience in a writing exercise or two that is connected to her practice in some way. …
George Saunders on Writing
There is so much in this article I felt compelled to share without much comment save to say writers: read this. "What does an artist do, mostly? She tweaks that which she’s already done. There are those moments when we sit before a blank page, but mostly we’re adjusting that which is already there. The …
NYC Reading Sunday Feb 19
A beautifully brief post to provide information on an upcoming reading. This weekend David Kirschenbaum and an amazing crew of writers is putting on the annual BoogFest of readings. I'll be on the Sunday evening line-up at 6:15 PM reading from my current book in progress, HOW THE END WILL COME. Please come! SUNDAY FEBRUARY …
Reading, Writing, Thinking, Acting
Do it. Do not let the urgency of the moment keep you from doing the things that fill you up. Do not let anyone's abusive agenda lead you to be abusive to yourself or others. Do let yourself be moved. Do let yourself be challenged. Do give yourself time to reflect, recharge, retool. Do consider the …
Troy Night Out!
I run writing workshops at The Arts Center in Troy, NY a couple of times a year. As I always say to participants, this is such an opportunity to engage with each other in a way that foregrounds our humanity via our relationship with language. (Also, it gets me out of the house.) The next …
Out Like A Lion, In Like A Worker Bee
Revision of ms. draft: check. Classes taught: check. Students, clients mentored: check. Short stories, reviews, non-fiction submitted, published, rejected, read, clicked, linked, ignored, liked, "liked": check. Trying to save the world one word at a time: check.